Rebound
by Denizu
Summary: April and Don find themselves growing further apart but cannot explain themselves. Don finds himself looking elsewhere to fill the void and unfounded speculation from all sides reveals they have a part to play in a much larger conspiracy. Post-CGI/07
1. Chapter 1

_Author's note: First of all let me say I'm blown away by some of the Turtles fanfiction I've been finding around here. While this is my first attempt at writing a fic I want the other authors out there to know that I'm open to constructive criticism and would love to get a dialogue going. I'm no serious writer, but doing this for fun is no excuse to get sloppy. I hope everything fits together like I've planned it, I'm getting used to the site and taking it all in so bear with me if I skip a beat here and there. - Dee_

Rebound

Chapter I

Up to her eyes in paper work and a desktop screen full of browser windows, April rubbed her eyes and slumped down in her office chair with a sigh. Casey was seeing some friends and wouldn't be getting home for another hour or so. The overworked young shop keeper turned anthropologist turned shipping entrepreneur made up her mind that enough was enough and she was done for the day. Monitor off, binders closed, game over.

She twisted herself around, cracking her back and peering into the kitchen to read the time off the microwave clock. It was 8:20, too late for a big dinner but too early for anything decent on TV. She could exercise or practice her martial arts, but the motivation and energy required had left her ages ago. Hanging on that thought, she smiled to herself as a new idea presented itself. A long overdue catch up talk with Donatello was just what she needed. April couldn't remember the last time she'd had a meaningful conversation with him and felt a pang of guilt as soon as she realized this. At least she could try and smooth things over tonight, the boys had finally convinced their master that unless the city was under siege or a threat presented itself, Saturday evenings were generally their one night frees of training or patrolling. Practically beaming in anticipation of her surprise call, April picked up the cordless phone and walked towards the living room couch while she dialled the lair.

"Carl's party services, currently on hiatus... uh hello?" An unenthusiastic voice answered.

"Its Cowabunga Carl to you Leo, if I was booking my kid's birthday I'd expect more from from such a reputable entertainment company." the familiar voice of April answered back.

"Ah April, I'm thankful its just you. I've almost given up on answering the landline entirely, I don't know how to handle some of these customers," said a relieved Leonardo. "Especially since Mikey's sent ''Carl' on what he's been calling an 'extended vacation of no known return'."

"You think they're bad? Just try Donnie's job for a day then, I dare you. By the way is he around?" April asked nonchalantly while sprawling out to fill the the length of her couch.

Leo hesitated for a few seconds on the other end, just long enough for April to catch it. For some reason alarm bells immediately went off in her head. What had she said now? "Uh, I was actually told my brother was going to be with you this evening... I think I'd better get going." He answered in his eerily calm 'just discovered I've been lied to' voice.

"N-no wait!" April exclaimed, her head racing to make up something on the spot as she got up off the couch and began pacing in front of it. "He will be. We didn't settle on a time and I was wondering if I had a minute to run downstairs to mail something. Could you tell me when he left so I'll know when to expect him?" It was a lie, a total lie, but perhaps vague enough that Leo would let it go.

Another, longer pause on the turtle's end. It was very possible he was testing April, she she kept her mouth shut. "Around eight, actually." He finally answered coldly. "I hope you two enjoy yourselves, I'll be sure to ask Donnie all about it tomorrow."

"Good night, Leo." sighed April, clicking off the phone without waiting for the turtle's good bye. She couldn't stand it when Leo took that indignant tone with her. It didn't happen often but when he did it was usually in situations like these where one of his brothers had used her as a scapegoat. She didn't need this right now, but knew she should call Donnie's cell and find out what was going on. They had to get their stories straight for tomorrow's interrogation, and maybe he could tell her why he needed lie about where he was in the first place. Over the weeks following the Winters episode the two of them had slowly started growing apart. As one of the last people known to talk to Max Winters before his mysterious disappearance and abandonment of his company, April was dealing with the police, her lawyer and the press on top of her already demanding work schedule. While not a suspect, there was still a lot of media attention around the young entrepreneur and she couldn't risk being followed by reporters in fear of exposing the turtles. During her last visit to the lair she spoke with Splinter in private and told him everything that had happened, seeking his council. Until the case was settled and the media had moved on to their next story, master Splinter and April came to the agreement that she and Casey should keep there distance from the family for the safety of everyone. It was April's request to the rat that he did not break the news to to his sons right away, she knew how much they would worry about her and if anything were to happen they would blame themselves for not offering her protection. Splinter agreed that this was best and promised to follow the news and hold a family meeting discussing April's situation when the time was right.

The time on the microwave clock flashed 8:41 by the time April picked up her cordless phone again. This call was going to be a quick one, her conversation with Leo had put her in a bad mood and now all she wanted was answers. If she was lucky she could grab a shower and crawl off to bed before Casey got home and pretend to be sleeping. Maybe her life would return to normal in the morning.

* * *

How was my April? If you've checked out my user info you'll know that I'm not as familiar with the 2003 series as I'd like to be, so the April above is more 2007 movie-based. Let me know if I'm way off, eek.


	2. Chapter 2

Sound the alarm! An OC appearance and I didn't even warn you until now. My apologies. If you're put off by the mere thought of non-canon interaction between Donatello and an OC (a female OC no less) let me defend myself by getting these three fun facts out of the way.

1) They are not in love, they are not lovers. 2) The character below is not a desirable beauty, a surprise!ninja master, magical, mysterious or in any way written in a way that make my skin crawl to read it. 3) She won't be saving the day, solving every one's problem, hogging the entire story or be welcomed with open arms by any other characters from the point onwards. Still furious? Boycotting the story from here on out? Send me a message and we'll talk, if I've done wrong please explain to me how and what you'd do about it :)

Rebound

Chapter II

After looking at the time on the shell cell for what felt like the tenth time in the past fifteen minutes I was beginning to wonder if I'd miscalculated, or at the very least got my hopes up prematurely. Still, I didn't expect this... not from her. Something must have held her up along the way. Traffic maybe, or the drive shaft in the Trans Am finally giving out. "Well that's what you get," I would chastise when she finally showed up, "for driving a car from 1985." I grinned to myself a little after the rehearsal played out in my head. Next I'd have said I could take a look at it, but since it was after hours it was going to cost her. At that point I decided to wait a few more minutes before calling it a night.

I half expected her to arrive at the last second when I'd lost all hope like some cookie cutter romance movie, but I should have known better. We were anything but cookie cutter and this was no romance. Headlights were shining at the end of the street as soon as I'd put my cell down.

She didn't see me when she clambered out of the of the idling yellow Trans Am but I could tell she was searching when she shut the door (discreetly, of course.) After frantically patting down her hair with her hands and sticking her head back in the passenger's side window to give some final instructions to the driver, she stepped back onto the sidewalk and watched as the car did a burn out and tore down the street blasting -of all things- poppy Indian techno music. I think she called it Bollywood once, but that could have been the movies the music was featured in. Michelangelo had become a fan regardless and I still jokingly resented her for introducing him to it. There was a time and a place for that type of music, and early morning warm-ups in the dojo were neither of those things.

Afterwards she turned around and started walking idly towards the spot we'd chosen to meet at. There wasn't a lot of cover here, trees were scarce in vacant lots that doubled as parks until they were sold to private developers. "Donnie?" She called out, leaning against a cement block before digging into her purse for a lighter and her _Ms. Pacman_ cigarette case, "If you're still here don't be pissed, you should've known I was gonna be late by now." I decided to hold out a little bit longer, just to see what she'd do next. "Come on man, its tradition by now! Besides, you can't blow me off that easily. Maybe I'll jump on a plane again and never come back." That was my cue, with one deep breath I stepped out from the shadows and was met with the most genuinely happy face I'd seen in days. I didn't know quite what to say, my rehearsed drive shaft opener was useless now. Thankfully she was always the first one to speak. "Ohmigod, I'm so sorry I'm about this." she sighed as she tucked a cigarette behind her ear and moved in for a hug. She was big on hugging, I didn't object even though she always awkwardly tugged on my bandana. I don't even think she realized she did it, either. She smelled like smoke and lemon soap and her bare arms were warm around my neck, some things never changed. This was the familiarity I had been craving for months. "We circled around the airport like, four times. Then Arjay and I had to run home to drop off my stuff and see Eddie."

"How was your flight? Do you feel jet-lagged at all?" I asked, changing the subject as we parted from each other. She almost immediately lit up and took a drag before answering. At this point I wasn't interested in getting into another discussion about Arjay, and especially not Edison.

"Ah it wasn't so bad. The food was kind of shitty so I ended up giving most of it to the guy next to me. Actually, is it cool if we grab a meal to go and head out somewhere?" She asked, as if suddenly remembering she hadn't eaten in hours.

"Okay, sure." I was kind of hungry myself. Mikey would more than likely have a dinner waiting for me in the fridge when I got back but I knew it was going to be a late night. I could always eat it for lunch tomorrow if Raph hadn't helped himself by then.

"Smoke?" She passed me her lit cigarette casually without waiting for an answer and reached into her purse for new one. She knew I preferred finishing hers off by now, otherwise I'd get a headache. I know what you're thinking, there were easily more than a hundred legitimate reasons for me to refuse her offer. The likelihood of me picking up the habit before any of my brothers surprised me as well, I'm supposed to know better. In fact, she never offered me anything until one night when I finally just asked for one. I wanted to experience it for myself, but was disappointed when nothing really happened. And anyways, how often did we get together the first place? I could be a purist of Leonardo-like proportions in old age. The effects of nicotine from my (barely) social smoking now were still reversible, or at least that's what I told myself to get past the thought and back into the moment. "I was thinking Chinese but whatever you want, anything that doesn't come in a vacuum packed plastic tray is fine by me." She suggested while fighting with her lighter in the warm breeze.

I laughed under my breath, it was good to have her back home. She carried the conversation like she had only been gone for a day or two when really we had three months to catch up on over dinner. I took my first drag in months and held it in, trying focusing on the buzz and the decision of what to eat at the same time. When the dizziness set in I realized I'd been too preoccupied with these thoughts to exhale. In a combination of a coughing fit and spell of laughter I finally let it all go, I must have looked ridiculous. She was laughing too, patting my shell with one ahnd and wiping her eye with the back of the other.

"No Chinese, remember last time? Lets get Greek or something." I answered after finally regaining my composure. "Also, why did you get dropped off? Don't think I'm going to be carrying you all over New York City." I finally got my chance to mock-chastise her for something. It was almost as good as my drive shaft lecture.

"Ugh, you know how it is. Someone sorts your mail for a couple months and suddenly you owe them your first born child... Or in my cause your wheels 'cause they needed to get to some concert tonight uptown," she shrugged.

I knew that by 'someone' she meant her freeloading neighbour Arjay. He was kind of a touchy subject between us and I didn't want to get into another argument over him when there were so many more pressing matters to talk about.

"To be honest I'm kind of disappointed you didn't show up in some new project of yours, or even the party van. Business purposes only? Yeah right. C'mon, its pita time."

Once upon a time this could have been April O'Neil. Our late night adventures were far less frequent lately, when they took place at all. The worst part was that I couldn't pinpoint her exact reason for being so distant lately. I know it was selfish to expect anything more from her, but I couldn't help it. April was dealing with a busy time in he life with work and Casey and she wasn't able to make the same commitments to my brothers and I that she had when we were younger. That was the story she was sticking too any ways, but I had my doubts, it had to be more than that. While I knew it wasn't her fault and there was nothing I could do without interfering, I found myself looking elsewhere to fill the void left behind from my close friendship with April. This is how Lisa became a much bigger part of my life then I ever planned on having her be. I didn't tell anyone about Lisa for a long time, partly because I felt I was somehow betraying or trying to replace April, but mostly because even if I wasn't I knew thats how my brothers would react I didn't even want to think about approaching Sensei about her at the time on, at least not this early on. Lisa and April were entirely different women and I was afraid the family wouldn't accept or understand Lisa without constantly comparing her to April. Even worse, I was more terrified of the idea of her and April being in the same place at the same time. To add insult to injury, I hadn't rescued Lisa from muggers, carried her out of a burning building or saved her from an alien abduction. We met online and and then in person a year afterwards when she came out to the city to move into her dad's place for school. I have no doubts that I've already broken at least seventeen ninja rules and twenty five family rules without even going into detail about how it all happened.

Lisa stamped our two cigarettes out with her shoe and linked arms with me jovially before we headed off on our adventure. Just as we began to walk out of the lot she stopped in her tracks and looked me up and down shamelessly. "By the way? Nice get up." I couldn't tell if she was being sarcastic or not, but suspecting she was baiting me I decided to play along. I never took as much time honing my disguises as Mikey or Raph did. If I could find a hoodie or coat large enough to pull over my shell, dark pants and a comfortable beanie it was good enough for my purposes.

"I thought so, but if you truly doubt my abilities to work an outfit, I understand. When I'm deemed presentable enough to be seen in public with you, we'll reschedule." I answered with a smirk, putting on the most unconvincing performances of insult ever.

"Oh jeez Donnie, just go get rid of that stuff," she laughed "you can wait outside when we get there and I'll order. No tzatziki, right?"

"Absolutely no tzatziki." She made a face that implied I was missing out on the best part but held back all verbal protest. After exchanging coordinates to the pita shop and my hiding place of choice we split up. I'd have time to stash my clothes and get to a safe spot while she ordered. As soon as I was on my own again and about to hop the fence of the vacant lot my shell cell went off in my back pocket, to my surprise it was none other than April. Unnerved, I let it ring just long enough to regain composure before finally answering.


	3. Chapter 3

Rebound

Chapter III

Leonardo stood in the kitchen with his hand clenched around the hung-up telephone, thinking about what had just transpired during his call with April. The truth was, he didn't believe her story for a minute but decided against bringing her into the situation. Doing so would only make things more complicated and it was going to be difficult enough to get a straight answer out of Donnie, who didn't handle confrontation well in the first place. As the eldest brother of a family who needed to remain hidden from outsiders yet coveted the freedom of being above on the surface, Leo had lost most of his naiveness years ago. What concerned him the most was that wherever his brother was, Donatello felt the need to lie about it in the first place. Being so inventive and having a superior talent for uncovering items and resources for the family, Donatello was given further boundaries and freedoms earlier on than each of his brothers. By now he was also the only son bringing a substantial income home to the family. Donnie was essentially free to roam topside whenever he wished, so long as it didn't interrupt his training, chores or time spent with the family. He had also been good up to this point about telling everyone where he was, remaining in contact during long absences and coming home on time. Now his story didn't check out, and it appeared he hadn't even bothered to tell April to cover for him. This carelessness was frustrating for Leo to analyze, it was conduct worthy of Raph or even Mikey but Don? If his brother really were really sneaking out, Leo would've expected him to have a calculated and foolproof scheme on top of an additional backup plan incase someone gave away his whereabouts.

"So is he there or what?" A blunt yet curious voice piped up, as if on cue. Leo snapped out of it and turned around to see Mikey setting up _Guitar Hero III _in the living area. Leonardo detested _Guitar Hero_, and couldn't fathom what his brother got out of mashing his way through the same list of noise with only two fingers available to play with. Every so often he'd be taking a shower and find himself humming the tune of 'Knights of Cydonia' and felt the urge to 'misplace' Mikey's game disc somewhere his younger brother would never look. One of their dustier meditation CD cases perhaps, or in Sensei's _Gilmore Girls_ DVD boxed set.

"Mikey, be honest with me." Leo started as he walked towards the couch, picked the TV remote up off the arm rest and hit the mute button. "Do you have any reason to believe that Donnie is in any kind of danger? Try and remember anything out of the ordinary he might have said to you, either in confidence or in passing." He spoke sternly and placed himself between Michelangelo and the television sets. "I'm trying to be fair to you. If he really has snuck off I can get any details I need from him later. All I need to know right now is that he's safe, and maybe you can help me." Appealing to Michelangelo's better nature was always the best way to get information from him, his younger brother took secrets very seriously and would never confess to anything unless he knew that withholding information would jeopardize the safety of the one who had confided in him.

"Okay, honestly? I think you got the longer story than I did." said Mikey while tearing open a new package of batteries for his plastic, sticker plastered guitar and fishing out two double A's. "All I know is he said he'd be out late, and if anything changed he'd call home. But Leo, if he does call? Jus' let me talk to him 'cause you'll scare him off if he thinks you know something." Leo nodded solemnly, his brother was right. At this point he had nothing to accuse Donatello of except possibly being dishonest, and he reminded himself that he should know better than to jump to conclusions so hastily.

"So you think I should wait then? Talk to him in the morning?" He asked, putting the remote down on the coffee table and moving out of the way of the glowing screens behind him.

"Only if there's something to talk about at all." The younger turtle answered with a shrug, "I mean, c'mon... it's _Donnie_. If he really is up to something he thinks he needs to hide from us its probably because its some totally embarrassing geek-out. I wouldn't take it personally if I were you."

Michelangelo made a good point and Leo knew it, so now what was he going to do all evening? Mulling over how to deal with his possibly out of line brother wasn't going to get him anywhere. When the cement door to the lair scraped open across the floor and Raph walked in with plastic bags in hand moments later, he had a pretty good idea of how the night was going to play out.

"Shouldn't you be meditatin' or something?" Raph called neurotically to Leo down the steps as he put his bags on the floor and started removing his disguise, which wasn't much more than a black wind breaker, skullcap and some ratty pants and work boots. Mikey had almost immediately lost interest in his game and was now turned around watching his brothers avidly over the back of the couch.

"Actually, Sensei decided on an early night tonight," Leo replied cooly, sauntering towards the bottom of the staircase that lead up to the lair's main entrance where Raph stood. "So instead of honing my reflective prowess alone, I thought I'd switch things up spend some quality time with you and Mikey here."

Raphael gritted his teeth. "How _thoughtful _of you big brother. Special occasion huh?" By now Leo was making his way up the steps and the cornered Raphael knew there was nowhere to go. He was basically fucked, but Leo would have to be crazy to think he'd be going down without a fight. The red-banded turtle stood his ground without another word as his eldest brother met him in the doorway. Why was he smiling like that? _What a shit-eating grin_, Raphael thought to himself, _what does he think he's doing anyways?_

"We're going to have a stake-out." Leo announced to his brother, unexpectedly slapping his hands down on Raph's shoulders and making him jump backwards defensively.

"Are you out of your fucking mind!?" cried Raph as he backed up against the door, more surprised by Leo's behaviour than anything else.

"Not at all, actually." Leo replied with a smile as he crouched down and started rifling through his brother's shopping bags. "We won't even have to leave the lair, and you can drink all the..." here he paused to read the label of a large glass bottle he pulled out of the first bag, "Colt 45 you like."

"As long as you're sharing with us!" added Mikey from the living area. Raphael looked past Leonardo down at their brother in the living room, staggered by what was happening. When it all finally clicked and he realized what Leo was actually allowing to happen, Raph snapped out of it and snatched his bottle back from his eldest brother, putting it back in one of the bags with the others.

"First off, tell me what the hell is going on tonight." He demanded although it was obviously in jest. "And you!" he barked down the steps at Mikey, "Get some glasses, throw 'em in the freezer and break out the cards. You know the drill!"

"It's going to be a long night," started Leo, helping his brother with the bags of beer bottles and leading him back down the stairs, "we're gonna wait for Donnie to get home, to see what kind of stories he has for us. What happens between now and then is up to us. Are you in?"

In the back of his head Leonardo knew this wasn't the best way to approach the situation, this wasn't how he would have planned it at all. On the other hand, he could either lie awake in bed that night and pretend he couldn't hear his brothers getting hammered and goofing off in the kitchen without him or put aside his moral oppositions for one night and have a good time. _Everything in moderation_ he reminded himself, he was sure he'd be fine and his brothers would be spent and in bed by the time Donnie came home.


	4. Chapter 4

Rebound

Chapter IV

I've heard that when you're about to die, your life supposedly flashes before your eyes. Now, there's no way of knowing that until you've reached the end of your own means, but I'd argue that something similar happens when you've made a huge mistake that's caught up with you unexpectedly. The difference is that instead of your whole life flashing, what you see is the events leading up to your moment of conviction. As soon as I saw _"APRIL" _flash across the lit up call display screen on my cell, it all came rushing back so clearly.

"_Hey, Leo? April and I just made plans to look over this courier program I've been working on for her. It's kind of a last minute thing. We were thinking Saturday night would be best, if that's alright with you..." _

"_Mm, you haven't been out her way in awhile, have you? If I had any idea how to program I'd ask to tag along, you know how things get around here on Saturdays lately."_

"_Heh, don't be so hard on them. They've settled down a lot since you came home, you know. Especially Raph, come to think of it. One night of freedom never hurt anyone, right?"_

"_Thanks for trying to make me feel better, say hi to April and Casey for us."_

"_Any time, Leo. I don't plan on being remarkably late, but I'll call you if anything changes."_

After letting the phone ring until it was about to cut to voicemail, I quickly answered and tried to remain calm while my head raced with panic. Goddamnit, how could I have forgotten to tell April? I knew this couldn't be a good sign, she always called the lair first because it made a mess of her phone bill when she tried reaching us by shell cell. Like an idiot though, I tried acting completely oblivious to this when I picked up.

"H-hey April, what's up?" My voice clipped on the 'hey' and I began pacing along the chainlink fence that surrounded the lot nervously. In retrospect, I may have been overreacting. The conversation I has been bracing myself for went surprisingly better that how thought it would. Instead of being angry with me, or even irritated after her encounter with my brother, April just sounded overwhelmingly exhausted and disconnected. She got lost in her own thoughts not once, but twice, during my apologies and half-vindications, needing me to repeat things for her. I reassured her that I was safe, simply figuring some things out on my own. I told her not to worry about Leo or getting our stories straight, and that I would deal with him personally when I got home. Lastly, I apologized for using her as an alibi without clearing it with her first and vowed not to do it again.

"Well, since you're not going to be shedding any light on what you_ are _up to tonight, I won't keep you any longer. Please be safe, Donnie." said April with a yawn. If she was better rested when she called me she may have been worse tempered, so although I felt for her when I heard her exhausted voice on the other end, I was also semi-thankful in the back of my mind that her usual feisty spirit wasn't with her that night.

"You too April, bye for now." I answered quietly before ending the call. Before getting on my way again, I stood there in the vacant lot for a moment turning everything over in my head. I had April, who knew I was up to something, and a family back home who likely did as well. At the same time I also had no idea what was going on with April, when I'd be seeing her again or if she was even willing to shed some light on her absence in my family's life any time soon. I also had Lisa waiting for me in a parking garage with dinner, smokes and a hundred stories to regale me with. I told myself at that moment that I wasn't going to let anyone ruin this. Not April, my brothers, Edison and Arjay (who I'll get to later) but most importantly myself. Quite frankly, I knew I deserved my time spent with Lisa. Leo left us for nearly two years while Raph got to play Night Watcher and throw his weight around in the lair during our eldest brother's absence . Oh, and some of the things Mikey got into during his Cowabunga Carl gig? I don't even want to go there, the point is I spent the entire time struggling to keep some order in the home under Master Splinter's guidance on top earning just enough money to keep us in the lifestyle we'd become accustomed to, let alone put food on the table.

Truth be told, I had originally only pursued a relationship with Lisa in the first place in the best interests of the safety of my family. Yes, things changed soon after we got to know each other through some heated and lengthy e-mails and IM conversations, but when I first made contact with Lisa the last thing I had in mind was making friends. Lisa's fifteen year old brother Edison (named after the jazz musician, not the inventor, apparently) was the the young founder of a widely successful network of enthusiasts of all paranormal and suspicious activity based in and around New York City. They carried out most of their business through a series of forums and live chats; trading, collecting and archiving amateur photos, video footage and theories which they collected in the streets. When I came across their earliest forums years ago I had my doubts and didn't see the network as a real threat. When the it launched, Edison was an awkward thirteen year old just grasping web design and forum administration, and his group seemed to be made up of nothing more than like minded teenage boys with digital cameras and generous imaginations. Still, I made a dummy account and watched the network, called Vision, grow, lurking in the background while monitoring just what these people were up to and how much they really knew. After six months I started seeing things that surprised me, and began to take these people far more seriously. With a member count of just under two hundred, Vision's forums were made up of individuals whose goals were varied but who ultimately wanted to prove the existence supernatural forces and activity throughout the city. Anything from mutants to ghosts to aliens went and they had an astounding bank of information on the Foot Clan and Purple Dragon gang between them. The Night Watcher had also been a popular character back when Raph was still playing him, though most members had come to accept that whoever they thought he was, he wasn't coming back. There were always debates over what to do with the information the forums gathered, especially if it should be revealed outside of their community. As Vision grew larger and more sophisticated with each passing month, I knew I was going to have to take matters into my own hands before my brothers and I wound up on the news. Constantly looking over my shoulder for kids with cameras during our mission and training runs was distracting me from my work and it was beginning to show.

I had made plans to sabotage Vision on my own before any damage was done, it was the kind of threat I knew my brothers wouldn't take any action towards until it was too late and one of us had his picture posted all over the forums. I wanted to take care of this before they knew who we were, my goal was to make it look as if the Foot was responsible for it, scaring them into reconsidering their network's activities. I was going to try and get Lisa to tell me everything she knew about her brother's motives and the inner workings of the community, including everything they knew about and all the proof they had to back it up. Lisa had helped her brother with Vision since it's humble beginning but remained largely inactive within it's community until the first year since it's creation passed. There was a very "investigate for good and not evil" air about anything she contributed but she mostly acted as a moderator, rarely getting involved in any actual surveillance or investigations herself. As I began talking to her outside of Vision, I realized she was much smarter and well informed about the world my brothers and I lived in than she let herself appear to be. When I hinted at things, things I didn't think she'd have a clue about like Stockman's mousers, she never skipped a beat and reiterated her brother's entire study on the machines after he and another Vision member acquired a defunct mouser unit (though she wouldn't budge when I asked where or how they came into possession of it.) This was impressive, for a girl whose only other interests I knew of at the time included watching and collecting piles of movies (evidently she was a film student) and blasting music while speeding around in her Trans Am.

Nearly a year after I'd made the decision, I was still in full-blown sabotage mode. One night, out of the blue an IM window appeared on one of my monitors and Lisa herself opened with "look Don... I know what you're trying to do. I want you to know that I'm on your side, because I think you're threatened by the things my brother and his followers are studying. I know you're not a criminal or a villain. I think I know what you are, to be honest, but they don't. If you can convince yourself to trust me, I can help you." She always wrote so eloquently when she was trying to be serious, but it never carried over into her every day speech as I learned not so long after that night. Before our first meeting in person I told her that no matter what she thought I was, she was going to be way off and would probably run from me. That, and I wasn't coming unarmed and wasn't afraid to do what I'd have to do id she was setting me up for her brother. If you're wondering, the first thing she said when she saw me was "You're like him, but you're not the same. So this is what you look like underneath?" She was talking about my brother, Raphael. Raphael as the Night Watcher more specifically, at the time she thought I must have had a metal suit as well and wondered why I was wearing street clothes instead.

Here was this girl, this skinny, cigarette smoking girl who wore t-shirts with unicorns and band logos plastered across them, who drove a yellow Trans Am and watched Bollywood movies all day, calling it part of her university education. _She _had figured out who the Night Watcher was on her own and hadn't told anyone but me, and it was my _brother_. I didn't dare confront about Raph about it, ever, because I was scared of his reaction as well as what Lisa was going to do with this information. At that moment I literally began begging her not to tell Edison what she'd discovered. She kept her word that night and since then we'd been pulling all nighters just talking, as well as meeting up in secret. We came together to exchange vital information, what her brother was up to and any new criminal activity I could report to her for Vision, but what we really stayed for was the company.

I knew I was lucky to have what I did with Lisa, which was why I took so many stupid risks with my family (and now with April) to keep seeing her. I didn't know what I was going to tell Leo when I got in that night, but at the time I couldn't be bothered to think about it much longer after getting off the phone with April. I finally hopped the fence of the vacant lot and made my way down a narrow alleyway, Lisa was waiting five blocks east of here at the top level of a parking garage for me and was going to be wondering what the hold up was.

_ I'd like to thank everyone for their extremely helpful reviews, you guys are amazing! It makes writing this so much more enjoyable, I love going over your takes on the story and always look forward to hearing what you have to say. - Dee_


	5. Chapter 5

Rebound

Chapter V

We'd met here before, it wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing location but it was safe – relatively unknown and inaccessible to those not extremely determined to get to it. The structure served as a paid parking facility for the surrounding shopping district, but when a large, free lot opened just down the street years later, the building's upper levels sat empty most nights. When the ramp to the sixth and final floor partially collapsed and fell into disrepair from water damage, the city was in no hurry to repair the underused facility when so many other construction projects were in need of more immediate attention. I was about to approach Lisa, who was just across the lot from my position at the top of a maintenance staircase. There she was, somehow wedged into a cross-legged position on an overturned milk crate, smoke in one hand and flip-phone in the other, hunched over the screen (most likely playing _Tetris) _humming absently to herself. I decided then to hold back a minute and watch her, though it wasn't something I was particularly proud of. Under ordinary circumstances I wouldn't think twice about Lisa's physical attributes like this, I swear. She was one of the only humans I'd ever met where her lively personality took priority over her image in my memory, and that's saying a lot. The last thing I wanted to make the same mistakes with Lisa that I did with April when I was younger; holding onto an unhealthy attraction while manipulating information in my head to convince myself she wanted the same things I did. I knew all too well the type of strain it could put on our relationship if I let myself get carried away again. Because of this, I usually distanced myself from any kind of physical observation of Lisa... On more than one occasion this might have made me seem a little cold, but I wasn't about to let innocent things like noticing a new haircut or clothes lead my mind down a imaginative path. With someone like Lisa, who would tie stories about her nights out, places she'd been to and things she'd experimented with into everyday conversation it wouldn't have been a difficult thing to do.

Nonetheless, I told myself I was only curious because she'd been gone for so long. Her face was more or less the same, she almost never wore makeup so I imagined the dark circles under her eyes were the result of exhaustion. Considering how she'd spent the summer she was in better condition than I thought she'd come home in, actually. When she announced back in May in her perky, guess-what-_I'm_-doing voice that she was going out west to some reforestation camp her cousin worked at, I thought she was telling me some poorly executed joke. The girl was a waif, she hadn't had any real exercise since high school gym class and up until that point she'd never mentioned even a _fleeting_ interest in anything outdoors-y to me. Then, like a mind reader, she explained she was actually in it for the money (you supposedly got paid on a per-tree-planted basis) and "insane field parties" after the shifts her cousin had bragged about. Deep down I think she just wanted to get away from the city, her brother and being dependant on her steady but meager Vision revenue for awhile. She was looking forward to a change of scenery, even if it meant sleeping on the ground and waking up to hard labour every morning. Aside from some new additions to collection of hemp and pony bead bracelets that went up her wrists, she looked almost exactly the same and I couldn't decide if I felt disappointed or relieved because of it. I'm not sure what kind of change I was expecting, really, but seeing her as she was then was the reassuring familiarity I'd been waiting for. This was enough, I was wasting our time just standing there in the stairwell gawking at her, it was time to get the evening underway.

"So, did those 'insane' field parties live up to your expectations after all?" I called out with a grin as I made my way across the lot to where Lisa was sitting. I _almost _got to her. Instead of shooting me a death glare, she turned her attention to her purse which she began dumping the contents of on the parking lot floor without a second thought.

"I was going to bring you a souvenir you know, I don't think the pictures from my shitty camera phone did them any justice." She replied, glancing over her shoulder at me for a second before turning back the search for her lighter. I sat down on a second crate beside her and watched quietly as she picked through each item on the ground. I never understood how Lisa could manage to fit so much into that tiny bag, or why she bothered to haul so much junk around in the first place. She'd already dumped out a pile of receipts, some tic-tacs, a set of keys, her _Ms. Pacman_ cigarette case, a gel pen, a roll of pennies, chapstick, a blowpop, a bottle of Tylenol, a dice, half a roll of Lifesavers, an empty dime bag and a bottle of nail polish on the pavement and there was still more to go through.

"I have a feeling anything you would've brought back could get us both incarcerated." I eventually countered absently, I was paying more attention to the pile of all things Lisa that was accumulating in front of us than the direction of our usual banter. What kind of girl carries around a roll of Elastoplast and tensor clips? By now she'd finally retrieved her lighter and set is aside with Ms. Pacman on the ground between us, then began shoving the rest of her treasures back in her purse carelessly.

"I've been back five minutes and we're already making snide drug remarks, Don?" She asked, pulling out a styrofoam container marked '_W/O TATZIKI'_ from a plastic takeout bag and handing it to me before opening up her own. "And besides, you know I'm not into anything unnatural."

"I wasn't being snide," I interjected, "I just think your definition of what's natural is a generous one, that's all." I didn't want to debate this again, so I began eating without another word and waited for Lisa to change the subject. We fell into a silence for awhile, but it was a comfortable one. Lisa finished her meal first, and began folding her napkin into a fan in silence until I made a point to show I was done as well. When I'd collected all my garbage and put it in one of the bags, Lisa quietly cleared her throat and took a deep breath. What came next surprised me.

"So anyway, has Eddie been into anything he shouldn't have while I've been gone?" She asked without looking up from her half-hearted napkin origami. I was taken aback, I thought we would've had to skirt around the issue for another half hour before getting anywhere with it. Without asking, I reached for Ms. Pacman before speaking, and Lisa passed me her lighter instinctively. I stole a quick glimpse of her face while lighting up and my heart sank while my head rushed, then looked at the ground and collected my thoughts.

"When it comes to Edison..." The words I was looking for had escaped me. I had to be so careful when it came to reporting anything tabout him to Lisa, not only to protect myself but also to ensure I still had her trust. Our relationship went both ways, I needed her information as much as she needed mine. Lisa was unquestionably protective of her brother, and often had a hard time accepting that he wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty or even above using Vision as a catalyst for profiteering when the mood struck him. If I overwhelmed Lisa she wouldn't want to speak to me, and there was just no reasoning with her when she'd heard too much. She'd just get upset and disappear, leading to a series of panic attacks on my end until she got over it and decided we were cool again. "I guess to put it in simplest terms, there was one incident... a fairly recent incident. Your brother was hardly involved but he got close to us. Too close, though thankfully he was chasing something else at the time."

"Okay, but..." She knew this game, she had to ask me the right questions if she was going to get any clarity out of the situation because I couldn't go into too much detail when my brothers were involved. "This has happened before, right? I don't understand what's so different about this time if he didn't see you."

"It's a small miracle he didn't, we had our hands full at the time and I had no idea he was even _there_ until, well, the next morning." This detail got her attention, I paused for a moment before continuing. The incident in question was our face off with the Sasquatch monster and Karai's ninja just after Leo's homecoming. "So, uh, yeah. Eddie sold the footage he captured to channel 6, his name wasn't revealed but I recognize his camerawork anywhere. There was a commotion over it on Vision as well, no one's sure just how much he made from the deal but some of them weren't happy. There were comments that he only got away with it because you were out of the picture, questions were even raised about Vision's integrity."

Lisa was fuming, and really, she had every right. Edison had drilled into Vision's members on so many occasions that their information was too valuable to be commodified, and that to be a member one had to be above selling out. They were sworn to a sort of secrecy that wasn't supposed to be broken whenever it was convenient or money was short. "That son of a _bitch_!" She exclaimed, standing up and digging her phone back out of her purse. "What was he thinking? Ohmigod Donnie, I'm so sorry, I could just kill him."

"Hey, it's okay. You couldn't do anything about it and- You're not calling him now are you?" I asked uneasily. Lisa didn't answer, but turned her back to me with her phone to her ear and began walking a circle around our milk crate dining set up.

"Hey...Where are you? Yeah. Yeah. Are you staying there?...What the hell? Thanks for telling me, I'm like across town right now. You're paying me back for the taxi. Fine. I know, I will. Bye." Lisa snapped her phone shut and let out a frustrated sigh and turned back towards me. "So that was Eddie, he's staying at a friend's house tonight and claims he was going to call eventually. Dad's still on business so I gotta get home and let the dog out. Normally Arjay could do it, but he's out with my car, right? I'm really sorry, but I have to cut our night short." She looked completely guilty and I felt for her. I was also fretting over what I was going to do I was planning on getting home after everyone else had gone to bed and that was _before_ I'd wound up in the mess I was in now with Leo and April.

"Well, at least you can make the best of a bad situation. With your brother out of the picture you can always do a little investigation, find out what you've missed over the summer." I offered, though my tone probably gave away that I was disappointed about our meeting being cut short as well. It was never easy planning these things, and after tonight I had a feeling this would only become more difficult.

"You know what? Screw this, you should just come with me! There'll be no one around, I can put Blue in the bathroom if he wants to bite your face off!" This filled me with _so_ much confidence, believe me. I was hesitant, I'd seen Lisa's house before, a turn of the century duplex which her family split with Arjay's. Sure it had more cover than an apartment building, but I'd never been inside before and usually avoided buildings I didn't know the floorplans of very well. At the same time, there was a chance I could be grounded indefinitely when I got home that night, so I figured then was the time to take the risk and tag along.

"Fine, we'll go now," I decided "but I have three rules: all doors unlocked, all windows open and all blinds and curtains drawn before I'm inside. Oh, and a fourth rule, I'm not going anywhere near Edison's room." I needed to make sure I had an exit wherever I was in the house, I wasn't going to find myself trapped in a closet or bathroom if someone came home unexpectedly. Lisa was beaming and went in for another hug, she was warmer now than before.

"This is so great, I'll take a cab and meet you there. I'll be faster for both of us that way, you can use the rooftops." This was true, it was only a far distance to Lisa's on foot if you were using the sidewalks. I could make it there in less than twenty minutes my own way. Before we knew it we were going our separate ways again, I had no idea what was in store at Lisa's but deep down I knew I was looking forward to going. She would never be able to see my home, so I felt it was a kind of rare privilege to get to see hers. I knew that as long as kept track of time and didn't let my guard down I'd be able to take care of myself, I was a ninja making a house call after all.

* * *

_Thanks for your patience, I swear I hadn't forgotten about this story. The tl;dr version of the major delay of this chapter is that back in July I got a puppy, and his training and upbringing hasve been eating up most of my free time. I'm looking forward to getting back into fanfiction and might even start some new projects alongside this one. Again, I love the feedback Rebound has been getting so far and look forward to reading what you thought. And no, I haven't forgotten about April or the boys back at the lair, the next installments will be looking into what they've been doing all this time. - Dee_


	6. Chapter 6

Rebound

Chapter VI

Casey glanced at his watch again, April was probably wondering where the hell he was by now. All the same, it wasn't like she called to find out. She'd been calling a lot less since the whole Winters episode started. Casey told himself things were better this way, but inside he was starting to miss the nagging, at least it meant she still gave a damn.

He'd been sitting on the patio at the Delaware pub nursing the same bottle of beer for over an hour. The girl who'd been waiting on his table was starting to get annoyed and it was showing, she already came by to ask if he'd like to order anything else five times already. His response had gone from an initial, friendly "Thanks but no thanks, ma'am" to a half-hearted shrug. The pub was across the road from 2nd Time Around, which had been closed down for just over a month. The one part-time employee April could afford to have on staff had left at the beginning of the summer to go abroad and no one else had shown any interest in the 'Help Wanted' sign in the window since then. April had been coming and going all summer with her research and archaeological ventures, so business had been down to begin with. What Casey had been trying to figure out over the last few nights were who these kids were and why they kept meeting up in front of the store, talking, exchanging envelopes and studying the building's exterior. With all the heat April had been getting from the media lately, Casey was worried they were selling lies to the papers or planning a prank on her or something. Whatever they were up to, it didn't sit well with Casey and he was determined to get to the bottom of it once he knew just what he was dealing with. Three of them had just showed up on foot, he'd seen these ones before.

The youngest looking was a girl, probably mid-teens with bleached out hair, fair skin and a loud green track jacket. She was pacing around and kept peaking into the window of the 2nd Time Around storefront impatiently. Her accomplices were two teen males, the taller of the two was Asian and the other white, both dressed down in black. They looked too well dressed for their age, there was something off about how they carried themselves. The Asian wore a dark sport jacket, designer jeans and wing tipped shoes, for starters. Casey had seen the other kid's watch at a distance and it looked more expensive than the watches most of April's contract bosses wore. His long sleeved dress shirts, worn with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, were always pressed and starched. Casey could only speculate what the black leather messenger bag he carried with him at all times held. Whatever they were dabbling was obviously paying well, but what did it have to do with April?

Eventually a fourth figure showed up, but Casey didn't recognize him from any of the previous nights. Another teen male who looked awkward and out of place among the others. Casey was pretty sure he wasn't one of the usual suspects. Sure, the girl with the bleached out hair didn't dress like her male counterparts, but the trio shared the same attitude and mannerisms once they got to talking. Casey glanced around the patio for his waitress, who had disappeared inside the pub for the first time all evening. Fishing a ten out of his pocket, he left it on the table and grabbed his jacket and motorcycle helmet, it was time to get some answers.

o0o

The fourth figure was shuffling back and forth, looking into the distance as he spoke. "I've got other sources interested in these, so if you can't offer anything up front, I'm gonna have to move on." he said defensively, clutching a photo envelope tightly under crossed arms. The Asian male, Dylan, glanced over at his partner who was staring straight ahead at their informant before stepping forward, reaching for a billfold in his back pocket.

"There's no third party, so you can cut the bullshit right now," he began, leafing through the wallet casually before pulling out a small sealed envelope, "if you're serious about working with us again, this will do for now. We're being more than generous."

As Dylan was finalizing the deal with their informant, Chris, the young woman, spotted a motorcycle that had been idling just up the street from them long enough to catch her attention.

"Eddie," she began in a low voice, while moving in close beside Edison, "what about him? I saw that guy across the street at the Delaware earlier, but he's just been idling on that bike watching us for the past few minutes." Edison's back was to the biker in question, but he didn't dare turn around. He didn't need anyone suspicious getting a good look at his face.

"Everything's fine" He replied quietly, looking Chris in the eye. "I want you to take the photos and go down Longbranch until you hit Royal, then sit in the Bistro until you're ready to walk to Dylan's. Just _don't _run, no one's going to bother you." Chris nodded, but she still looked uncomfortable. Without another word she stepped between Dylan at the informant, took the photo envelope from the stranger and began to walk away while tucking it in her jacket. Edison had already hailed a cab, and as it pulled up he was ushering Dylan to get in the back. Before the young leader of Vision began climbing into the taxi himself, he gave out one last instruction to his informant. "See that guy on the bike? He's going to come this way to get some answers out of you the minute we leave. Throw him off course and we'll double what's in that envelope. We'll be in touch soon." The door slammed, the cab veered off and the informant was left standing by the storefront, dumbfounded. Richer, but dumbfounded nonetheless. Casey Jones pulled up alongside him as if on cue and removed his helmet while dismounting the bike.

o0o

"Raph, I've got to tell you something." began Leo, staring at the bottom of his second empty glass of the evening. "This is, by far, the _worst_ beer I have ever had the pleasure of drinking in your company."

"Oh I'm so _sorry_ Fearless, never knew you were such an aficionado when it comes to booze." scoffed Raph, sitting back in his chair across the from his eldest brother at the kitchen table. Leo just grinned and shook his head, gesturing to Mikey to fill his glass again as he was already topping off his own.

"You're probably just used to tequila, sambuca.... all that exotic, south-of-the-border shit from your_ mission._ Don't deny it, we know all your secrets." Mikey joined in as he finished pouring for Leo. "And you know what? Not bringing us back any souvenirs? Cold man, just cold."

"Yes, because it's obvious now how difficult it's been for you two to get your hands on alcohol when left to your own devices." sighed Leo, momentarily lapsing back to his usual self and wondering once again what he had got himself into. On that note, he took another swig of the god-awful Colt 45. Where was Donnie? It was becoming increasingly easier for Leo to blame his declining condition on his missing brother, all he needed now was for him to walk through the front door so he could bring everyone's attention to Donnie's predicament and away from his own indulgence. "Come on, we're going to watch _Fight Club_." he decided rather abruptly. It was one of those rare movies he and his brothers always agreed on, but he was reluctant to put it on while Master Splinter was hovering for what he thought were obvious reasons (Mikey? not so much.) Besides, _Fight Club _was almost three hours long. That would take the heat off him for awhile, right? He could sit in peace and wait for his delinquent brother to turn up, and Raph and Mikey would be none the wiser that he was quickly losing an uphill battle with his alcohol tolerance and that the taste of Colt was beginning to grow on him.

o0o

"So, Lisa came home tonight?" asked Dylan, turning to Edison who had been staring out the taxicab window in silence as they made their way towards Dylan's building.

"She did." the head of Vision replied, almost inaudibly. Dylan took this as a hint that Edison didn't want to talk about it until they were off the streets and somewhere more private. The car would be pulling up to the Croft Arms any minute, so the young second-in-command held his tongue and waited until they were in the building's elevator making their way up to the 11th floor before he attempted bringing Lisa into the conversation again.

"Well, Ed, it's been a good run. But you know we can't keep things going the way we have been now that your sister's back, and-"

"Would you stop it?" Edison cut in, looking Dylan straight in the eye. "This is my venture, not yours, and _especially _not hers. She's already got you on her moral soapbox, and now you're talking about turning your back on everything we've worked so damn _hard_ for?"

"There's a difference between turning a profit on Vision and racketeering! We've gone from chasing ghosts to getting involved with gangs, multinational corporations, the Foot... feel free jump in any time. It's flat out bad business." The elevator door opened and Dylan let out a heavy sigh as he stepped out and head down the hall towards #1109, Edison trailing silently behind him. When the two entered the apartment it was pitch black, Dylan's shift-working parents made the place a dependable rendezvous point. Dylan flicked on the kitchen light and began rooting through the fridge for something to eat while Edison settled in at the kitchen table, picking up a coffee-stained newspaper. A calm had settled over room again.

"Lisa's at home if you want to go see her that badly, I sent her back to check on Blue." said Edison as Dylan joined him at the table with a plate of cold fries in one hand and his billfold in the other.

"The dog, huh? Couldn't deal with her running loose on her first night back?" Dylan was totalling the leftover cash from their transaction and writing down numbers on a memo pad as he spoke, paying more attention to the money than the conversation at hand. When he was finished he looked up at Edison across the table, sliding the pad towards him as he spoke. "Come on Ed, you can't turn on the TV or pick up a newspaper that doesn't have the Winters case all over it. Our end of it? No, not yet. But she's not stupid, she'll make the connections."

"It's too late for her, she made a choice when she left for the summer and has no business walking in on a project this far into it. O'Neil is due back in court next week and the entire thing is complicated enough as it is without bringing her up to speed. Besides, there's not enough to go around if she wants her cut of the deal, you've already allocated that lot to Chris."

"And incase you've already forgotten, we're still underpaying her." Dylan reminded his friend sternly.

"I haven't, or did you think those photos were for research? They're just overexposed damage shots from the construction site, one of them has unusual footprints in it." This got Dylan's attention, but he still looked like he was on the defence. "They're nothing we haven't catalogued in higher quality already, so we can afford to let these ones go to the skeptics papers and pad everyone's share." Edison's plans were usually easy for Dylan to predict, except for every once in awhile when he threw a curve ball like this one. On the one hand, he was happy that he, and especially Chris, were getting a little more financial recognition for their work. On the other, they had wasted a lot of time and effort tracking down that last informant to get a set of photos they had already archived, only to turn around and sell them again. They could have spent that time out in the field figuring out where the prints came from, considering that was the one major block in their investigation.

"I think I'll pass on your sister tonight, Ed." Dylan's quip brought a smile to both their faces and the tension in the room was gone again. Chris would be back any minute and since there was nothing to sell until the work week started again, the three would probably spend what time they had until one of Dylan's parents came home working on cases. Afterwards, some reckless online spending followed by a trip to the only liquor store for miles that couldn't tell Dylan from a senior at NYU was in order.


	7. Chapter 7

Rebound

Chapter VII

Lisa was struggling to maneuver her way over a plastic baby gate while carrying a stack of newspapers and a binder in one hand with a bowl of chex mix in the other, returning from a trip to the kitchen downstairs. We had been holed up in her room for an hour, while Blue, her lumbering German shepherd dog, waited in a completely fixated sit-stay with his head resting on top of the gate in the hall. "Are you sure I can't take this thing down now?" she asked once she'd made her way back over to her bed to put her loot down.

I eyed the dog distrustfully from where I was sitting on a sheepskin rug on the floor with my shell against the bedside table. "If you do, will he come in?"

"Probably." shrugged Lisa, settling on her bed in a cross-legged position with the bowl in her lap.

"Then no."

Lisa rolled her eyes and began leafing through one of the newspapers, "He _is _friendly, you know. I was kidding when I said he'd bite your face off."

First of all, let me make one thing clear: it's not that I don't like dogs. I'm sure that for the most part they make upstanding companions. The problems between dogs and I usually boil down to appearances; to them I seem to resemble some kind of walking, talking, sentient chew toy. The life my family and I lead mean I've had some devastating run-ins with guard dogs over the years, most of them shepherds. There's nothing worse than having to fend off an animal trained to attack when you know they're reacting the only way they know how.

But I didn't want to think about that. Snapping out of it, I took in my surroundings once again. Lisa's room was small, but it's high vaulted ceilings created the illusion it wasn't as closed-in as it really was. Her walls were covered in movie posters tacked up over yellowy-orange paint and she'd taken the liberty of painting the defunct radiator red, yellow and green. A Rastafari homage, she'd explained. Her sunken bed, bedside table, desk-slash-TV-slash-computer station and a single book shelf took up most of the floor space leaving little room to walk around. There was dirty laundry and piles of papers, books and DVD cases in every corner. If Mikey took the liberty of cleaning out his junk more than once a year he would probably keep a room like Lisa's.

"I brought this up for you, but Eddie left in the den instead of locked up in his room so I wouldn't expect too much." said Lisa before passing me down the black three-ring bindle she'd walked in with. While she continued reading the paper, I flipped through the pages of hand written notes, meticulous diagrams and illustrations and had to admire her brother's eye for detail, he put some of my own note taking to shame. Sometimes the writing would switch over to a thicker, capitalized print, which obviously belonged to someone else.

"Whose writing is this?" I asked, holding up the opened binder and pointing to a block of text.

"Ehh.. probably Dylan? He's cool, got a good head on his shoulders."

"What does he do for Vision?"

"Besides keeping my brother from running it into the ground?" She asked with a laugh as she crawled off the bed and joined me on the floor to get a better look at the binder. "Nah, I'm glad he's on board. The two of them go way back before Vision and everything. Eddie's staying with him tonight, so I wouldn't be surprised if they've been out working. If everything you've said about Eddie is true, we'll have some things to talk about next time I see him." We both went quiet for a minute and skimmed over the writing on the page, or at least Lisa was. I couldn't concentrate while she was leaning in this close, but didn't know what to say. Finally she stood up to go back to the newspapers spread out across her bed. With her back turned to me, she asked the last question I would ever expect to come out of her mouth.

"Who's April O'Neil?"

My mind was reeling, what on earth was she talking about? Did she go through my phone? I hadn't said a thing to her about April, ever. I cleared the lump in my throat but remained seated, I wanted a smoke now more than ever before.

"I- I don't know, why?"

"Really? She's all over the news right now, they're saying she's a suspect in the disappearance of the CEO of Winters Corp. Things I miss while I'm gone, eh?" Lisa brought the papers over and sat down beside me again, only this time when I didn't say anything she looked up at my face as I took in the photo of April being swarmed by reporters as she was stepping into the back of a black car with her lawyer. I couldn't fool anyone any longer.

"Don? Are you okay?" She asked, though she knew I wasn't. She wrapped her warm hands around one of my clenched fists instinctively, but she sounded unsure of what I was going to do or say next. I could feel tears coming and fought them back hopelessly, not only because of April, but because of how stupid and oblivious I'd been this entire time. I had a hundred questions and not one answer, and what's more, I'd just brought Lisa into the mess.

I stood up and wiped my eyes wearily with my forearm, newspaper in hand. "Lisa, I've been such an idiot. I really need to go home, I'm sorry." I knew how disconcerting I must have sounded but I couldn't bring myself to explain any further, I just needed air. Turning towards the bedroom window, I stopped in my tracks when Lisa cut in front of me and blocked the it with her tiny frame.

"Look at the state you're in, Don! Wait here five minutes, alright? Promise me. I'll be right back. If you leave now I'll never forgive you." She didn't wait for a response, and disappeared into the darkness of the rest of the house with her dog following close behind. I should have left right then and there I but couldn't bring myself to do it. Lisa was upset because _I_ was upset and I didn't need to get into any more trouble than I was already in. I opened the window while I waited and let the cool night air in, while I wasn't looking forward to going back to the lair I knew the long commute home would calm me down. When I heard Lisa's footsteps on the hardwood coming back up the stairs minutes later I took a deep breath and turned away from the window to meet her. She gave me a half-hearted smile as she hopped over the gate and handed me a black canvas tote bag she'd brought in with her.

"What's this?"

"A little bit of everything. I photocopied some articles and notes of Eddie's for you in dad's office. I also wrote down Dylan's address and the information you'll need to pull his records online. Then there's some of that tea you said you have a hard time finding for your dad, and I found those Bollywood DVDs I burned for your brother before I left but never gave you, so they're in there too. The rest is just some stuff for you, um, go through it _on your own_ later." Almost out of breath she grinned, I had no idea what she meant about the last bit, but I'm sure I'd be thankful for it in due time.

Despite everything I'd just learned, her smile was contagious and for the moment I felt a little better. "I hope you're not giving me all this because you're worried I'm taking off for good."

"Well I've never seen you this upset before, I don't know what to think." She looked down at the floor for a second before continuing. "She's very pretty."

If only my brothers knew half the drama of keeping company with women. "It's never been like that, Lisa. If there's anything I've learned the hard way it's that doesn't work, it can't work. Why do you think I-"

"Heh, thanks Don, I get it. So we're cool?"

"Of course. If you can, I need you to find out as much as you can from your brother about the past month or so. We're practically after the same answers, believe it or not. April didn't do anything, and Edison seems to be after what really happened" I pulled back the screen to Lisa's bedroom window and prepared to get on my way.

"How can you be so certain she's innocent?" Lisa wasn't asking this because she distrusted me, but she certainly wasn't going to help out someone suspected of knocking off a CEO of a multinational corporation just because they shared a mutual ninja turtle.

"Because she was with us that night." There, I answered without lying. The details were unimportant right now, and it was good enough for Lisa. Without protest she wrapped her arms around my neck and hugged me good bye. For a second I thought she was going to kiss me, but instead she rubbed her cheek up against mine and made a small noise in the back of her throat I couldn't match with any particular emotion. "I'll talk to you soon, okay? Stay out of trouble." I told her in a whisper. She nodded, and when she finally let go and stepped back I picked up my bag and climbed out into the night air without looking back.

Somehow, I'd pulled it all off. I now knew what April was going throuh and my brothers would have _nothing_ on me when I got home. The scenario played out in my head as I hopped rooftops like a movie. Mikey and Raph would have gone to bed and Leo would be waiting up in the kitchen, meditating or practising calligraphy – anything he felt I wasn't practising or taking seriously enough. He'd tell me all about his phone call with April, how he was sure Mikey knew where I was but refused to blow my cover. Then he would go into his lecture on the dangers of going topside alone, how if we couldn't trust each other we couldn't anyone, how he might have expected this from our other brothers but never from me. Up until this point he wouldn't have let me get a word in, not until he was finished. When he finally asked me what I had to say for myself, I would tell him how disappointed I was in him doubting me, for_ I _was out risking life and limb finding out all I could about April and her current situation. Somehow, I'd spent the evening chasing a girl around the city and ended up on her bedroom floor. As much as I hated to, I made a note to stop thinking up these blowhard reviews of my escapades before I ended up blurting them out next time I got into an argument with my brothers. As much as I wanted to stop and see what Lisa had packed for me in the bag, I knew I needed to get going or the lecture Leo had waiting for me was only going to get longer and drier as the night went on.


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's note: _

_Oh jeez.... Hi guys. I really do want to apologize for how ridiculously late this chapter is. I got a motorcycle over the summer and, well, let's just say I can understand why Raph was never home once he started riding haha. I had to make good use of the warm weather, this summer was a total throwaway for much else. I have had such awesome response from readers for this fic and hopefully not everyone has disappeared over the months! That being said, I also have quite a bit of reading to catch up on as well. Anyways, I'm back on track and it feels great to get back into writing regularly again. Cheers everyone :)_

Rebound

Chapter VIII

April stared into the darkness at the ceiling fan above her bed until she felt her eyes strain from the blurring motion and draped her arm across her forehead to cover them. She had no idea what time it was because Casey had neglected to change the batteries in their oversized plastic alarm clock days ago. She imagined she was well into the early morning hours by now. The drapes were pulled closed over the elongated windows that rose up from across the living room, visible from the lofted bedroom built over the kitchen. When they'd moved into the place April was in love with the open concept but now she found there was so little privacy and nowhere to go to escape for some peace and quiet.

A jarring noise came from downstairs just as April felt herself drifting off. She remained still and listened from the refuge of her Egyptian cotton sheets. Casey had come home, making even more of a racket than usual. _What's his problem now? _April mulled over the possibilities while listening to Casey stomp around the hardwood floor with his shoes still on, crack open a beer and stick something in the microwave. Any chance she had of sleeping was out the window now, so with a sigh April heaved herself out of bed, grabbed her threadbare bathrobe off the floor and padded downstairs to meet her boyfriend in the living room.

"Casey?" She called, perching herself on the third step from the bottom floor. "You're home awfully late for a game night, what happened?" April was met with a momentary silence from the kitchen, but waited it out patiently. The clock from the DVD player across the living room blinked 01:40.

Casey slunk into April's sight with a container of reheated stir-fry in one hand and a can of Pabst in the other. He looked defeated. April's stomach tightened as she studied his face, knowing he'd been up to something.

"I- look, there's no easy way to put this." Casey started, turning towards the draped windows so not to look his girlfriend in the eye.

"Casey..."

"No, babe, listen. I was out. Maybe messin' around in things I shouldn't have, butut it's so fucked up. I mean, these damn kids, April! Snooping around your place, it's not right. I don't know where the hell they got off thinking that-"

"Casey,_ please._ Enough." sighed April wearily, staring down at the floor as if waiting for some colloquial explanation to give to her well-meaning boyfriend to manifest. "We've been over this. I don't need any extra attention from the press right now and if they catch wind that you're chasing down minors on unfounded allegations, what do you think they're going to say?"

"But they're notunfounded. Who knows how much these punks know? I've heard of them April, they're dead serious. What if they find out?"

"About _what_? " April caught the harshness in her voice, it took her by surprise but she scrambled to backtrack herself to a calm rationality. "It's like you're forgetting that we haven't done anything wrong in the first place. Nothing that happened at the Winters compound would stand up in court. The last thing I'm going to do is pander to the imaginations of some teenaged boys caught up in their fantasy world, which is exactly what these "Vision" kids are. They wouldn't know where to begin looking even if they knew what they were after."

Casey disagreed. He hadn't investigated Vision much himself, but he knew from his run-ins that it's members were smarter than April was giving them credit for. It's why he had come home empty handed night after night of pursuing them. It was killing him not to talk to Raph about it, too, but April was adamant that the turtles were not to be involved. The brothers were getting older, and as a newly reunited family April knew they had their own challenges to overcome. It wasn't that she was trying to distance herself from them, she was just trying to let them live _their_ lives without constantly getting hung up on hers. She only hoped that when they did find out (because of course they would eventually) that they would understand her intentions.

It was getting late and April wasn't having any more of it. Wearily, she rose to her feet and turned around to go back up to bed in silence. Casey was left alone downstairs with his thoughts, his cold meal and his late night cable shows.

o0o

Leonardo felt his head roll back against the back of the couch and slowly opened his eyes, taking in the his surroundings. He was lit in the glow of a blue light -- the TV screen was frozen on a looping, muted DVD menu illuminating a small space around him in the darkness of the living area. _What time is it? _he wondered, but was almost afraid to find out. Raphael and Michelangelo were long gone, likely off to bed after the movie ended while leaving all the evidence of their indulgent evening out on the coffee table for Leo to deal with. _Great_. _At least no one's up yet_

He plodded over to the kitchen to get himself a glass of ice water and began collecting empties and wrappers in a plastic grocery bag, still feeling rather far gone from the night's earlier drinking. After he tidied up the living area he noticed there was a sinkload of dishes to be done. In what felt like just a minute or two, he'd finished washing and ready to move on to cleaning out the fridge. _It needs doing anyways and shouldn't take too long._ By the time the lair's front door slid open unnoticed, Leo was sitting cross-legged on the floor between the couch and the coffee table with stacks of magazines, old newspapers and comic books he'd collected from around the lair, organizing them by publication and date.

Needless to say, Donatello was astounded.

"Leo?" He called out quietly, walking around to the front of the couch to get a better look at his brother's new found media organization. "Ehh.. what are you still doing up?"

"Waiting for you." Leo replied flatly, giving no real indication to his mood or his motives as he finished with the last of his magazines. "What's in the bag?" He asked, his head rolling slightly into his shoulder.

_Shit. Alright_. Donatello had been so caught up in anticipating his brother's reaction to his homecoming that he had entirely forgot about the bag Lisa had given him. "Um, some tea for Sensei and a couple of DVDs Mikey was looking for." He hastily dug out the items and placed them on the coffee table in plain sight for Leo to examine before dropping the half-empty tote bag behind his back as inconspicuously as possible. There was something off about his Leo that he couldn't quite put his finger on. He was eerily quiet, but rooted in his place and docile at the same time. Donnie decided the best way to avoid any confrontation was to keep their conversation on his terms.

"So, uh, you guys watched _Fight Club?_" He began, eyeing the DVD menu and praying that the image wasn't going to be permanently burned into the screen.

"It's Saturday night." Leo deadpanned. Donnie held out for some sort of elaboration.

"Huh?"

"Oh. Yeah, we did." Apparently this was all Donnie was going to get out of his brother, who was busy leafing through some aftermarket parts magazine for sport bikes he'd recovered from under the couch cushions. Genuinely curious, the younger turtle sat down on the couch just above Leo to see what he was looking at. Exhaust kits.

"Uh.. Do you even know what these are?"

"Raph just bought one this one. Yoshimura." declared Leo, holding the page up for his brother to see.

"I wasn't aware you paid much attention to his bike, let alone what brand of pipes he's installed."

"Well, before now I wasn't informed he spent six hundred dollars on them."

Donnie grinned. Out of the four brothers, Leo definitely had the least developed understanding of money and the value of material goods. He had no need for savings himself and bought almost nothing. "You can't keep tabs on everything they do Leo. If there's one thing I learned the hard way while you were gone it was picking my battles."

Leo nodded thoughtfully before closing the catalogue and reaching for the remote on the table to turn off the TV, leaving himself and Donnie in the dim lamplight of the early morning hours. He remained sitting on the floor looking forwards while his brother shifted uncomfortably on the couch behind him. "Old habits die hard though, don't they?"

There it was, time to face the music. The younger turtle let out a sigh and sunk back into the couch. He was getting tired and wanted at least a couple hours of sleep before morning kata. "What can I say that will get us past this as quickly as possible so we can both get some rest? I know you spoke with April." Donatello began.

"An explanation would be a good start."

Donnie hated this. It was all too similar to his nights of waiting for Raphael to return home only to end up on the receiving end of a verbal assault or the threat of something worse. Where he had failed so many times at confrontation, Leo was the incontrovertible master. He had barely got a word out and already felt defeated, his earlier confidence now long gone.

"Fine, I was out on my own. Why is this so important to you?"

"Because if that was the truth, you had no reason to lie when you left the lair tonight."

"So that's it then. You've already made up your mind and now I'm guilty until proven innocent. Unbelievable." This wasn't Donnie's self-assurance, but rather his way of getting through a mini panic attack, by running his mouth even though he knew what he _should_ be saying. The news he had about April, an entirely made up story, even a plea with Leo to empathize with his situation were all racing through his head. None of them escape his lips. Although he had a valid point against his brother about being accused without any evidence, it was the way he delivered it that doomed him in the end.

"Excuse me?" Leo rose to his feet and turned to stand over his brother whose head was low with clenched fists in his lap and a shaky knee. "I was under no obligation to wait down here for you to come waltzing in at two in the morning. I need to be in top form in no less than three hours in order to lead you, Raph and Mikey through new drills tomorrow without Sensei suspecting anything is amiss. Do you know what I could have done instead?" Here is where Leo began pacing, his voice trembling ever so slightly on his emphasized words. "I could have left you to your own devices, gone to bed and made a night of it. Then you could explain yourself in the dojo in front of everyone and likely end up in private council with Sensei. Is that what you'd prefer?"

As Donatello processed everything up until that moment in his mind, something wasn't adding up. He had to have given something away, but what? From where he stood, all Leo _should _have known was that he was out somewhere but not with April. Sure, he had brought back tea and DVDs, but that wasn't anything out of the ordinary. He had to know, he was already past the point of no return with Leo.

"What gave it away, then?" He asked looking upwards, meeting his brother's eyes. He left his question as vague as possible, ready to gauge his brother's response.

Leo smirked, shaking his head. "You absolutely reek of smoke. Get some sleep little brother. You'll need it in the morning." Without another word Leo disappeared into the darkness of the lair.

When he was sure his brother was gone, Donnie stretched and rose from the couch, picking his bag up off the floor. "Fuck my life." He thought aloud as he climbed the stairs towards his room. Maybe he'd sleep, but probably not. Admittedly, he had to give Leo credit for catching him, he hadn't even thought about his bandana. With his free hand he reached for one of the tails and cupped it over his mouth and nose as he entered his bedroom. It smelled just like Lisa and this brought a smile to Donnie under his mask.

o0o

_Aw. This was the most difficult chapter to write yet, if only because I had five hundred different directions for Leo to go in with his lecture. I'm sure he didn't meet everyone's expectations as far as maturity goes, but keep in mind that he wasn't sober (and no, Donnie never caught on to this.) I am definitely back into writing this story on a regular schedule now, so hopefully you'll see progression sooner rather than later. Thank you so much for reading! _

_-Dee_


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